All Test Ratings on the website are from 01/01/1950 onwards. Our ratings are based on conditions and diverse oppositions. Before the above
mentioned date, there were primarily only two teams which dominated cricket. Moreover, matches were of unequal length with some ending in 4 days
and some being timeless. Post 1950, West Indies and South Africa grew as test teams. Moreover, Asian teams India and Pakistan started improving
after 1950 and became compenent at home at least. Performance in Asia and outside Asia are integral to our overall rating.
*Note: All Test Ratings are updated till 2023-01-08
History of Top Wicket Takers
Fred Trueman of England was the first bowler to cross 300 wickets in test cricket. He finished his career in 1965 with 307 wickets. His record was broken by Dennis Lillee of Australia, in December 1981. Dennis Lillee retired in 1984 with 355 wickets. Ian Botham of England crossed his tally at The Oval in 1986. Richard Hadlee of New Zealand equalled Ian Botham’s tally of 373 wickets against Australia in Melbourne in December 1987. He took the record to 431 wickets. Kapil Dev broke his record against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad in February 1994. Kapil’s record of 434 stood for around 6 years before it was broken by Courtney Walsh in March 2000. Walsh took the record past 500 wickets for the first time retiring in April 2001 with 519 wickets. Then there was a tussle between Muthiah Muralidaran and Shane Warne for the record which was won by Muralidaran, who has took the record to a mammoth 800 wickets by the time he retired from Tests in July 2010. Among fast bowlers, the record for most wickets is held by James Anderson, who is the only one with more than 600 wickets.
TOP 25 Spinners WITH MOST WICKETS IN TEST CRICKET
RANK | BOWLER | NAT | FP | LP | INNS | RUNS | WKTS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | M Muralitharan | SL | 1992 | 2010 | 230 | 18180 | 800 |
2 | SK Warne | AUS | 1992 | 2007 | 273 | 17995 | 708 |
3 | A Kumble | IND | 1990 | 2008 | 236 | 18355 | 619 |
4 | NM Lyon | AUS | 2011 | 2023 | 217 | 14563 | 460 |
5 | R Ashwin | IND | 2011 | 2022 | 166 | 10912 | 449 |
6 | HMRKB Herath | SL | 1999 | 2018 | 170 | 12157 | 433 |
7 | Harbhajan Singh | IND | 1998 | 2015 | 190 | 13537 | 417 |
8 | DL Vettori | NZ | 1997 | 2014 | 187 | 12441 | 362 |
9 | LR Gibbs | WI | 1958 | 1976 | 148 | 8989 | 309 |
10 | DL Underwood | ENG | 1966 | 1982 | 151 | 7674 | 297 |
11 | BS Bedi | IND | 1966 | 1979 | 118 | 7637 | 266 |
12 | Danish Kaneria | PAK | 2000 | 2010 | 112 | 9082 | 261 |
13 | GP Swann | ENG | 2008 | 2013 | 109 | 7642 | 255 |
14 | R Benaud | AUS | 1952 | 1964 | 116 | 6704 | 248 |
15 | Yasir Shah | PAK | 2014 | 2022 | 89 | 7657 | 244 |
16 | RA Jadeja | IND | 2012 | 2022 | 114 | 5980 | 242 |
16 | BS Chandrasekhar | IND | 1964 | 1979 | 97 | 7199 | 242 |
18 | Abdul Qadir | PAK | 1977 | 1990 | 111 | 7742 | 236 |
19 | Shakib Al Hasan | BAN | 2007 | 2022 | 109 | 7204 | 231 |
20 | Saqlain Mushtaq | PAK | 1995 | 2004 | 86 | 6206 | 208 |
20 | SCG MacGill | AUS | 1998 | 2008 | 85 | 6038 | 208 |
22 | MM Ali | ENG | 2014 | 2021 | 112 | 7149 | 195 |
23 | EAS Prasanna | IND | 1962 | 1978 | 86 | 5742 | 189 |
24 | Mushtaq Ahmed | PAK | 1990 | 2003 | 89 | 6100 | 185 |
25 | Saeed Ajmal | PAK | 2009 | 2014 | 67 | 5003 | 178 |